How I Moisturize and Seal

I moisturize daily, usually at night before I go to bed. Moisturizing at night allows my hair to absorb the product while I sleep, so I wake up to moisturized hair that is not weighted down.

My Regimen

Hi friends!

My warm weather regimen is slightly different from my winter regimen, in order to accommodate the humidity and increased manipulation.

Wash Schedule 

• Wash once every week with diluted shampoo; Clarify at least once a month,
• Light protein/ reconstructor every week,
• Deep condition ("DC") every week under my hair steamer,
• After DC, seal cuticles with low ph product (more details to come),  
• Apply a liquid, creamy, and serum leave-ins, in that order (the products vary, more details to come),
• Either air dry, roller set, or blow dry/flat iron to style.

Wash Day Products  - Elucence shampoo (moisturizing and clarifying), Aphogee 2 step Keratin reconstructor or Elucence reconstructor, Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner.

Daily - Moisturize with Bioinfusion Olive Oil Hair Lotion, use coconut oil or jojoba oil to seal.

Relax every 10 - 12 weeks with Affirm lye regular.

That's it!  I keep my regimen very simple and follow it religiously.  The key for my growth retention is consistency.  I will post updates on which products I use, and any modifications I make. 

I love my hair cut, but I'm starting to miss the length.  So, I plan to incorporate growth promotion methods (scalp massage, higher protein intake, etc.) and will post on those as well.

How I Relax My Hair

Hi friends!

The decision to relax my hair myself was quite daunting.  But after I had two bad experiences with new stylists, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Before I took the plunge, I practiced the application process with conditioner, and used a timer to ensure I got even results.  I do not relax my hair bone straight, so my hair is wavy when wet and highly textured.  To get my desired results, the application process is between 18-20 minutes from start until I rinse.

Please note - I do not add any oils or conditioner to my relaxer.  To get the texlaxed results, I simply omit the "smoothing" and I do not let the relaxer "sit" on my hair.  

I relax my hair in two sections - the back half and the front half (instead of applying the relaxer to my entire head).  The half/half method allows me to get even results, without over processing one part of my hair.  I start by applying the relaxer to the back half only, then I rinse, reconstruct, neutralize, and condition.  I leave in the conditioner, cover the back half, and then repeat the process to the front half of my hair.      

In these two videos*, I demonstrate how I prep my hair to be relaxed and how I apply the relaxer.    For safety reasons, I used conditioner to demonstrate how I apply my relaxer.

I hope this is helpful.

(*The videos were recorded two weeks before I did my relaxer.)

Pictures of My Hair Cut

Hi everyone,

Here are some pictures of my current length after my hair cut.   Enjoy!

 

Taken at the salon.

 Taken two days after the cut.  

My finger is at the bottom of my bra strap. 

I'm excited that I found the sweatshirt I'm wearing; I misplaced it while moving.  This is the shirt I usually wear to track my progress.  

At my request, my stylist did not bump my ends.  I wanted to see the true length and its harder for me to gauge with bumped ends. 

Hair Update - May

Here is a quick video update on my relaxer, hair cut, and upcoming videos. I will post pictures of my hair cut by the end of today.

Relaxer Stretching - Pros and Cons

Hi friends,

Most of us probably believe that we must relax our hair every 6-8 weeks.  Some women can relax that often without any problems.  But for the most of us, relaxing that frequently causes damage to our hair, because of the chance of overlapping the relaxer to previously relaxed hair. 

When I decided to stop relaxing my hair bone straight, I chose to extend the time between my relaxers as well.  I gradually increased the numbers of weeks between my relaxers, until I figured out my limit.  It was a trial and error process, and I found that the longest I can stretch my relaxer without adverse effects is 10 weeks.

Here are some pros and cons to stretching your relaxer:

Pros

• Reduces the chance of applying relaxer to previously relaxed hair,
• Thicker, fuller hair, and
• Saves money in salon visits or relaxer purchase.

Cons

• Hair is more likely to tangle and break if not properly moisturized,
• In extreme cases, hair can knot excessively at the roots when you wash, and
• Line of demarcation (where the new growth meets the relaxed hair) is more prone to breakage.

Generally speaking, all of the cons can be mitigated by moisturizing and detangling thoroughly.   

I stretched my most recent relaxer to 13 1/2 weeks because frankly, life got in the way.  As a result, I suffered more hair loss than usual.  So I will have to cut more hair than expected when I trim next week.  

April Relaxer Results

Hi friends!

I did my relaxer at 13 1/2 weeks and here are some pictures of the results.

 

Back half relaxed, front half not relaxed

 

 Nape relaxed

I did my relaxer while in Florida for my sister's college graduation.  (Congrats sis!)  Since I was in the humid capital of America, I decided against blow drying and flat ironing because I knew my hair would not stay straight.  Instead, I let my hair air dry and then lightly flat ironed in big sections.  To style my hair for graduation, I used steam rollers to get the wavy style, like I did here.